My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Life.
I bought a car! I’m so excited. We tend to drive cars forever in my family. My husband is still driving the “new” car I bought 18 years ago, but it’s on its last legs (last wheels?), so it’s time for our ritual passing of the vehicles. We’re selling his, he’s getting my 9-year-old car, and I get a shiny new one. It’s cute and it makes me happy… but now I have to learn how all the technology works. Silly high-tech car.
In other family news, my son is starting college today. It’s all remote and he’s still living at home until campus reopens, but still — my boy is a college student!
What did I read during the last week?
It’s been another slow reading week for me, so I only managed to finish one book. Luckily for me, it was a great one!
A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire: The October Daye series is my absolute favorite, and this new book (#14!) does not disappoint in the slightest. My review is here.
Pop culture & TV:
Continuing with Avatar: The Last Airbender — I’m almost done with season 2. It’s so good!
I also finished Indian Matchmaking on Netflix — which was fun, but also frustrating, since none of the main storylines get any closure. (I looked it up after I finished, and guess what? None of the matches from this show ended up staying together.)
Puzzle of the week:
This one was really challenging!
Fresh Catch:
I treated myself to paperback editions of two books I’d already read:
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: My book group’s book for August, so yeah, I’m a little behind. I’ve only read a few chapters, but it’s off to a good start.
Coming soon:
Tomorrow is September 1st, and you know what that means? It’s time to continue my Discworld journey! I’m starting a new volume in the series on the 1st of each month. Coming up for September, book #2:
Now playing via audiobook:
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal: I’ve barely made any progress this week, but I like what I’ve listened to so far.
Ongoing reads:
Outlander Book Club’s re-read of Outlander is underway. We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week: Chapter 12, “The Garrison Commander”. Thinking about this chapter in advance is giving me chills, because I can’t help thinking of the TV series episode of the same name, which included some of the most powerful performances of season 1.
Title: A Killing Frost (October Daye, #14) Author: Seanan McGuire Publisher: DAW Publication date: September 1, 2020 Print length: 336 pages Genre: Urban fantasy Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie’s archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future…. and the man who represents her family’s past.
14 books in, what is there left to say about my super-duper favorite urban fantasy series? I love these books, and A Killing Frost is no exception!
For those unfamiliar with the series, October Daye is a changeling, born of a human man and a powerful Fae woman. Over the course of the series, October (Toby) has come into her own as a knight and a Hero of the Realm, gaining strength in her magical abilities and gifts and setting out on quests to right wrongs. As she so readily admits, hardly a day goes by when she doesn’t end up covered in blood.
Toby is an amazing character, and the series as a whole is a richly detailed world, set in and around human San Francisco, with complex rules, hierarchies, relationships, and power dynamics. The characters are so much of what makes these books so good — Toby has a found family by this point in the series, including her sort-of sister May, her fiance Tybalt, her squire Quentin, and an odd assortment of friends and associates who love Toby and keep her always on her toes.
In A Killing Frost, Toby and Tybalt (King of Cats) are getting closer to setting a wedding date, when Toby is informed that if she doesn’t invite her stepfather Simon to the wedding, he or anyone connected to him can claim offense. And in Faerie, that can lead to dire consequences, including forced servitude or other truly unpleasant outcomes.
Simon, however, is lost. In book #11, he traded his own way home in order to rescue his long-lost daughter. After having reformed his nastier ways, he’s back to being a bad guy, having forgotten all the good in his life. Toby’s only option is to search for Simon, bring him back, and find a way to break the spell so that he can truly be found again.
I won’t give too much away. Naturally, Toby ends up covered with blood — mostly, but not only, her own. There’s danger to her and to her companions, and the damage is truly gruesome at times.
I was scared for Toby, especially toward the end, when I couldn’t see a way that her actions wouldn’t end in disaster. Naturally, I ended up surprised in all sorts of ways, especially by a huge new development that will have major ripple effects from here on out.
I feel confident saying that if you’ve loved the October Daye series so far, you’ll love A Killng Frost too. If you haven’t started the series yet… well, go ahead!
Obviously, I adore October Daye, and I love basically everything written by Seanan McGuire.
A Killing Frost is a total treat. And now it’s back to the sad state of waiting a year for the next book in the series!
Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!
Title: What Should Be Wild Author: Julia Wild Published: 2018 Length: 368 pages
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
In this darkly funny, striking debut, a highly unusual young woman must venture into the woods at the edge of her home to remove a curse that has plagued the women in her family for millennia—an utterly original novel with all the mesmerizing power of The Tiger’s Wife, The Snow Child, and Swamplandia!
Cursed. Maisie Cothay has never known the feel of human flesh: born with the power to kill or resurrect at her slightest touch, she has spent her childhood sequestered in her family’s manor at the edge of a mysterious forest. Maisie’s father, an anthropologist who sees her as more experiment than daughter, has warned Maisie not to venture into the wood. Locals talk of men disappearing within, emerging with addled minds and strange stories. What he does not tell Maisie is that for over a millennium her female ancestors have also vanished into the wood, never to emerge—for she is descended from a long line of cursed women.
But one day Maisie’s father disappears, and Maisie must venture beyond the walls of her carefully constructed life to find him. Away from her home and the wood for the very first time, she encounters a strange world filled with wonder and deception. Yet the farther she strays, the more the wood calls her home. For only there can Maisie finally reckon with her power and come to understand the wildest parts of herself.
How and when I got it:
I bought the paperback version last year.
Why I want to read it:
Forests and curses? Yes, please! I remember reading the description when the book was released — I love books that are dark and mysterious, with hints of magic in a natural setting. The family’s curse sounds like something I need to know more about!
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Life.
Once again, I just didn’t do a ton of reading this week. No idea why — just busy and distracted, I suppose.
Oh, and remember about a month ago when I complained about creepy people on Goodreads? Well, another one popped up!
Actually, I do mind.
And please note how considerate I’m being by not posting the sender’s profile name and picture.
Blocked and deleted.
What did I read during the last week?
Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston: Loved it! This may be my favorite of the series so far. My review is here.
The Switch by Beth O’Leary: Sweet contemporary fiction. My review is here.
Pop culture & TV:
My son convinced me to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, and you know what? It’s good! We just finished season 1.
Also, I randomly started watching Indian Matchmaking on Netflix, and got sucked right in.
Puzzle of the week:
Finished this one:
… and then started another that’s going to take me ages. But hey, at least it keeps me off the streets!
Fresh Catch:
No new books this week!
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire: It’s the new October Daye book (#14)! I’m thrilled beyond words.
Now playing via audiobook:
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal: Reading this book (and the other four books in the series) was one of my 2020 goals, so I’m excited to finally be starting!
Ongoing reads:
Outlander Book Club’s re-read of Outlander is underway. We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week: Chapter 11, “Conversations with a Lawyer”. Anyone who’s interested is welcome to participate, so just ask me how.
Title: The Switch Author: Beth O’Leary Publisher: Flatiron Books Publication date: August 18, 2020 Print length: 336 pages Genre: Contemporary fiction Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Eileen is sick of being 79. Leena’s tired of life in her twenties. Maybe it’s time they swapped places…
When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.
Once Leena learns of Eileen’s romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.
Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn’t as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?
Switching lives is a fiction trope that’s always fun and entertaining, and that’s true for the new novel by Beth O’Leary.
In The Switch, a grandmother and granddaughter decide to switch lives for two months, each being stuck in a frustrating rut. For Eileen, she’s 79 years old, her lackluster husband has just left her for another woman, and she already knows all the single men her age in her little village. She’s ready to get back out and start dating, but the pickings are slim.
Meanwhile, Leena is afraid that she’s torpedoed her career after suffering a major panic attack in the middle of a client pitch. Her boss (kindly, I thought) insists that Leena take a 2-month paid holiday to rest and recenter herself.
Both Leena and Eileen are dealing with loss and grief, in addition to their career/dating woes. Leena’s younger sister Carla died a year earlier after a battle with cancer. Leena has been quietly falling apart ever since, and Eileen has thrown herself into looking after her daughter Marion, who is fragile and shaky. On top of all this, Leena isn’t speaking to Marion, since she blames her for allowing Carla to stop treatment rather than pursuing an experimental option in America.
Once Leena is forced to take time off, she comes up with the idea of switching places with her grandmother. While there are no eligible men for Eileen where she lives, there are plenty in London, and Leena realizes that the peace of the village might provide her with a fresh start.
Naturally, they’re both fish out of water. Eileen moves in with Leena’s twenty-something flatmates and immediately begins making waves, insisting on getting to know the neighbors, rather than observing the time-honored city dweller tradition of ignoring everyone around you. Eileen does not take no for an answer, and soon has the entire building socializing and coming together for a good cause. Not only that, but her online dating profile leads her to a few good prospects, including a suave, attractive actor who’s clearly just looking for a no-strings lover — something Eileen is all too eager to give a try.
For Leena, small-town life is not as quiet as she’d anticipated. She’s expected to fill Eileen’s role on town committees, to socialize with Eileen’s friends, and to pitch in whenever needed. The town gossip immediate includes Leena and her misadventures, but she’s determined to break through some of the walls that the town’s grumpier residents put up.
Of course, each woman ends up finding love — and I can’t really say it’s where you’d least expect it, because I could see the love stories coming from a mile away. Leena starts off with a serious boyfriend, but it’s easy for the reader to see the couple’s issues, even if Leena doesn’t, and naturally the right guy is right under her nose, once she opens her eyes.
The Switch is a warm book, definitely lightened up by Eileen’s quirkiness and feistiness. I enjoyed Leena’s interactions in the village too. The emotional beats related to Carla’s death and the aftermath of her loss are often powerful, although the plot thread showing Leena and her mother finding their way back together could have benefited from more showing and less telling.
Overall, this is a sweet, lovable book. It’s perky and charming, and even though it’s mostly predictable, I still found it a hug-worthy, engaging read — just the right blend of lightness and real-life emotion to make it a good summer escape.
Title: Bookish and the Beast(Once Upon a Con, #3) Author: Ashley Poston Narrator: Caitlin Kelly, Curry Whitmire Publisher: Quirk Books Publication date: March 29, 2016 Print length: 288 pages Audio length: 7 hours, 21 minutes Genre: Young adult fiction Source: Digital review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley; audiobook purchased from Audible Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
In the third book in Ashley Poston’s Once Upon a Con series, Beauty and the Beast is retold in the beloved Starfield universe.
Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.
On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he’s forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.
When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.
But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts.
It’s no surprise that Bookish and the Beast is completely charming. After the delightful Geekerella and the lovable The Prince and the Fangirl, how can Ashley Poston miss?
For those unfamiliar with the Once Upon a Con series, these books take us into the world of Starfield fandom, as devoted fans cross paths with stars of the movie reboot, all structured along the lines of classic fairy tales with a modern twist.
Starfield is a (fictional) cult TV series with a huge, obsessed fan base. In Geekerella, Starfield is being rebooted as a movie, and fans are up in arms over what they see as questionable casting and a fear that their beloved characters will be sacrificed in the name of box office success.
Two books later, the Starfield movie franchise has completely filming the second movie, and the fans are ecstatic. Unfortunately, the bad boy of the movie’s cast, Vance Reigns, who plays anti-hero General Sond, can’t stay out of the tabloids. At age 17, he parties hard and gets in trouble endlessly. Finally, fed up and wanting some serious damage control, his parents arrange for him to hide out in a small town in North Carolina at the home of the film’s director, along with a guardian to keep him in check. And Vance is not happy.
Meanwhile, in the same town, Rosie Thorne is entering her senior year of high school. She has two amazing best friends, Annie and Quinn, and lives with her dad (a former punk rocker who causes her friends to swoon, and who they refer to as Space Dad — because “he’s so beautiful that his beauty is out of this world…”. Rosie lost her mother the previous year, and she’s both still deeply grieving and also sick of everyone seeing her as the girl with the dead mother and nothing more.
Rosie and her dad’s finances are shaky, having spent all their savings and then some on medical bills, but they get by. A chance encounter with Vance’s dog leads her into his orbit, and after she accidentally ruins a rare Starfield book from his borrowed house’s library, she agrees to pay it off by working in the house, tasked with organizing and cataloging the cartons and shelves full of books.
What neither Rosie nor Vance realize is that they’ve met once before, at ExcelsiCon, the annual convention dedicated to Starfield. Wearing masks, they spent one magical evening together, but left without disclosing their true names or faces. Neither has been able to shake the memory of their first meeting or the feelings it stirred up, but both have accepted that they’ll never know who that special person was.
Until…
Well. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling, so you know where this is going. The house where Vance is living is known locally as the “Castle House” — a vanity project of some millionaire, not usually inhabited, with moats and turrets, located at the end of a hidden lane through the trees. Rosie stumbles upon it (at night, of course) while trying to rescue a dog that ran in front of her car, and when she follows the dog (uninvited and unannounced) into the spooky, dark house, she runs right into Vance, who is outraged by the intrusion and behaves… um… beastly.
I loved all the little B&tB references, from a diner waitress named Mrs. Potts to the rose symbolism to the library as a way to a young woman’s heart. Little lines thrown in made me smile:
They probably got sick of being the middle of nowhere and left to have grand adventures in the great wide somewhere.
… and also:
… it’s pretty, and at least — unlike most of the houses around here — it doesn’t use antlers in all of the decorating.
Then there’s the story’s villain, Garrett Taylor, a handsome, popular jock who can’t believe someone like Rosie could even dream of turning him down. Like Gaston, he’s decided Rosie is the prettiest, therefore the best, and he deserves the best. His persistence goes from annoying to overboard to damaging, and he simply won’t listen to Rosie’s rejections.
The story is sweet and clever, and keeps the Beauty & the Beast storyline going without it ever feeling forced or overdone. At the same time, Rosie and Vance are fleshed-out characters with inner lives, each dealing with pain and emotional challenges, each striving to find a new future.
The author shows us Rosie’s grief and the depths of her loss, and how dramatically losing a parent can devastate a teen’s entire world, leaving her feeling not just the loss, but also the isolation and the rootlessness that comes with being different and losing a mother’s love and support.
I really loved this book, and enjoyed the through-story bits that continue expanding the world of Starfield, its characters, and its plot twists. One of the characters refers to Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and like Fangirl, the story within the story always leaves me wanting more. Might Ashley Poston actually write a Starfield book? Because I’d love to get more Carmindor, Amara, and Sond into my reading life!
The audiobook is really well done, with two different narrators — one for Rosie, one for Vance. They keep it light and entertaining, and let me feel like I was listening to the characters telling their own stories.
I have one complaint about the audiobook, and it’s a pretty big one that, days later, still makes no sense to me. Vance’s last name is Reigns, which I assume is pronounced like “rains” — there are even some tabloid headline puns about Vance needing to be “reigned” in.
So why, then, does the Rosie narrator (and occasionally the Vance narrator too) pronounce his last name as “re-gins” (with a hard G, kind of like begins, but with the accent on the first syllable). I couldn’t figure out what I was listening to at first, and had to go back to the print version to see if I’d misunderstood. Like, is Vance Reigns his stage name, but the family name is actually Reagans or something? Nope, it’s Reigns throughout the book.
So why does the audiobook have a different pronunciation? No idea. But it’s super annoying, and constantly distracting. Did they finish recording, realize it was wrong, and decided not to go back and fix it? Honestly, it makes no sense at all.
I realize I’m harping on about this, but it was distracting throughout the entire audiobook, so as much as I loved it overall, this one thing made it really frustrating too.
Putting that aside… I wholeheartedly recommend Bookish and the Beast. I think this is my favorite of the Con books, and I really hope there are more to come! And while this could possibly be read on its own, I really recommend reading the books in order, because you might not get the Starfield elements and what they mean otherwise.
Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.
Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!
Title: The Book of M Author: Peng Shepherd Published: 2018 Length: 485 pages
What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):
Set in a dangerous near future world, The Book of M tells the captivating story of a group of ordinary people caught in an extraordinary catastrophe who risk everything to save the ones they love. It is a sweeping debut that illuminates the power that memories have not only on the heart, but on the world itself.
One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories.
Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too.
Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to find Max before her memory disappears completely, he follows her trail across a perilous, unrecognizable world, braving the threat of roaming bandits, the call to a new war being waged on the ruins of the capital, and the rise of a sinister cult that worships the shadowless.
As they journey, each searches for answers: for Ory, about love, about survival, about hope; and for Max, about a new force growing in the south that may hold the cure.
How and when I got it:
I picked up a paperback copy over a year ago.
Why I want to read it:
The timing may be a little off — do I really need to read about yet another pandemic or worldwide catastrophe right now? Probably not.
But timing aside, I’m always up for a good disaster story, especially one that has unusual twists and compelling characters to ground the bigger picture. I’m fascinated by the idea of global memory loss and what it might mean to people’s lives, especially to their intimate families and relationships.
I remember seeing a bunch of good reviews when this came out, which is probably why I bought a copy in the first place! I really like the sound of the premise, and I’m eager to see how it all pans out… just maybe not right now.
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books that Should be Adapted into Netflix Shows/Movies.
Two of the types of watching I like to do on Netflix are (1) scifi/fantasy series and (2) light and fluffy romantic movies. Yes, these are really completely different, but each takes me away from the day-to-day and lets me become immersed in other worlds or other people’s lives. And who doesn’t need that right now?
My top ten picks:
First, to be made into one or more seasons of a series:
1. The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black: The story of mortals being raised in Faerie and rising to power by their wits could be so excellent as a series! I’d love to see the scenery, the magical elements, and the characters themselves.
2. The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger: Can you imagine how awesome this would be as an ongoing series? Maybe one season per book? The characters, the costumes, the dirigibles — I need this in my life!
3. InCryptids by Seanan McGuire: I think this could have a little bit of a Grimm or Supernatural vibe, but a little more light-hearted. A big extended family of cryptozoologists dealing with scary enemies and all sorts of entertaining otherworldly beings. All this, plus ballroom dancing!
4. Wanderers by Chuck Wendig: Well, now probably isn’t the best time for a series about a pandemic wiping out humanity — but I loved this book, and could see the story working as a 10-part series.
5. The Beauty (graphic novels) by Jeremy Haun: Again, a story about a virus maybe isn’t a great choice — but it would be very cool to see this story about beauty being a sexually transmitted disease brought to life. It’s weird and dark, but I think it could work!
6. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi: The concept is so fantastic, and don’t we need another great space battle saga in our lives?
Next, a bunch of sweet books that would make great rom-com movies:
7. Well Met by Jen DeLuca: Romance at the Ren Faire! And since there are two more books on the way, if the first movie was a success, there’s material for more.
8. The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary: The basic concept of two people sharing an apartment but never meeting is just so cute. I’d love to see it on my screen. I bet it would be hilarious to watch.
9. The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan: Any of the three books in this loosely connected series would be great, but this one is my favorite. Between selling books out of a van, finding true love in the Highlands, and dealing with a strange but endearing family, I think it could be a hit! And like with Well Met, there are more books, so more related plots to spin off!
And finally, a book that I think would make a terrifying movie:
10. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: The clothes! The setting! The creepy house and the weird people there! It’s just begging to be made into a film.
**Updated to add: Wishes do come true! Hulu is developing Mexican Gothic as a series! Woo hoo! Read about it, here.**
What’s on your TTT list this week? Please share your links!
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Blogging:
I’m been having a minor freakout (minor? well, depends what you’re comparing it to…) because my WordPress has been hating me since Wednesday. I’ve tried updating some posts — I get “updating failed” error messages. Tried to copy and create a new post — same thing.
I just logged completely out and back in, and I’m cautiously optimistic that I’m back in business. Fingers crossed.
Life.
My son turned 18! I’m no longer the mother of minor children! But he’ll always be my baby. (Don’t tell him I said that.)
On his birthday, he took his driving test and passed, and we helped him purchase the used car he’d been saving towards. So, all in one day, he’s a driver, a voter, and a car owner! Pretty sweet!
What did I read during the last week?
Peace Talks (Dresden Files, #16) by Jim Butcher: Finally finished! I didn’t write an actual review — it’s hard when you’re up to the 16th book in a series, right? What I can say about this book is that while it is totally entertaining, it feels very incomplete, like it’s only half a story. Which I guess makes sense, since the 17th book will be out next month. At this point, there’s no way I’m NOT going to read Dresden Files books whenever they come out, even though I fee like I need a crash course in Dresden history if I’m going to keep all the events and people straight.
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer: This book is LONG. But I didn’t hate it. My review is here.
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes: Finished with Part 1! My book group’s classic read of Don Quixote has been going on for months, and I finally caught up in time to reach the end of Part 1 with the group. Considering that Part 1 was originally published about 10 years before Part 2, and is about 450 pages, I feel like I’ve read an entire book already. We’re taking a bit of a break, but we’ll be continuing with the book this fall. Meanwhile, I’m happy to be able to put it aside for a bit.
The Unkindest Tide by Seanan McGuire: I finished my audiobook re-read, and loved it all over again. My review post from last year is here. Still a 5-star read! I love this series so much.
Pop culture & TV:
I went back to Supernatural this week, and am SO close to finishing season 1. Which means… only 14 more seasons to go? Sheesh. That’s a steep hill to climb.
Meanwhile, I watched the first few episodes of One Day at a Time on Netflix, and was completely charmed. Except for the laugh track. Why are comedies still being made with laugh tracks? It seems so archaic.
Puzzle of the week:
I got too wrapped up in my reading this week to get around to starting a new puzzle until Sunday morning, and I’ve barely worked on it — but here’s what I’m puzzling this week:
Fresh Catch:
No new physical books this week, although I did manage to load up my Kindle. How can I resist when good books keep being offered for $1.99 and then there are special buying incentives too?
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
The Switch by Beth O’Leary: I’m so happy to be starting this book! I shared an excerpt a few weeks ago, and I’m glad to be diving in. It’s off to a great start!
Now playing via audiobook:
Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston: I’m just about to start, and I’m so excited!
Ongoing reads:
Outlander Book Club’s re-read of Outlander is underway. We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week: Chapter 10, “The Oath-Taking”. Anyone who’s interested is welcome to participate, so just ask me how.
Title: Midnight Sun Author: Stephenie Meyer Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers Publication date: August 4, 2020 Print length: 662 pages Genre: Young adult fiction Source: Purchased Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.
This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?
Midnight Sun — the Twilight retelling we either needed or didn’t need, depending on who you ask.
I’m not going to hate on this book. I mean, hey, I compulsively read the Twilight series (multiple times) way back when, attended a midnight release party for Breaking Dawn, saw all the movies… I may even have had a T-shirt and calendar, but I’ll never admit it.
And yes, I’m a grown-ass woman. Anyhoo…
While my tastes and opinions related to the Twilight series have changed substantially over the years, I can’t deny that no matter how ridiculous the plotting and the writing, there’s something weirdly compelling and readable about these books. Despite my better instincts, they’ve always managed to just suck me in completely.
So, Midnight Sun. This is the long promised and often-leaked book that Stephenie Meyer wrote, retelling the events of Twilight from Edward’s tortured and brooding perspective. Does it work? Well, yes, but you have to decided for yourself whether you actually want to need to hear it all.
First, be aware of the length. From an interview on Amazon, the author explains:
The reason Midnight Sun is a hundred pages longer than Twilight is because the font is much, much smaller. The word count gives you a better picture: Twilight is around 119,000 words; Midnight Sun is about 240,000. It’s literally twice as long. It was obvious from the beginning that Edward’s version would be quite a bit longer. First of all, Edward never sleeps. Secondly, he’s quite the overthinker. Third, he’s lived a lot longer than Bella and thus has a bunch of flashbacks. The length wasn’t something I decided to do 14 years later; the story always demanded this.
You read that correctly: If you’re looking just at word count, which is a better measure for comparison, Midnight Sun is TWICE as long as Twilight, even though it’s telling the same exact story. Living inside Edward’s head must be exhausting!
So let’s get on with my reactions to this book.
Yes, the length was annoying. I felt like I was reading this book non-stop, and it still took me all week to finish. And while I was entertained at first, I got a little weary after a while.
Everything that’s ridiculous and/or annoying about the original is still ridiculous/annoying here. Vampire baseball is still stupid. The Cullens always seeming to pick up Bella and carry her instead of trusting her to walk on her own two feet is all sorts of awkward, and really funny to visualize. Going to hide in Phoenix because the bad guy would assume Bella isn’t stupid enough to hide in Phoenix is… stupid.
The idea that the Cullens could actually attend human high school and blend in somehow is utterly nonsensical. Of course, I do blame the movie version a bit for this, because before seeing the movie, it maybe wasn’t quite as startling in my head how white and nonhuman they all look. But even just reading Midnight Sun, it’s absolutely clear that don’t fit in.
Never mind that fact that if I’d been alive for decades, not to mention a century, the last thing I’d want to do would be to sit through high school over and over again. How utterly awful. Especially given that 4 of the 5 Cullen “children” attending high school are living in partnered adult relationships. Are they teens or adults? It’s weird and confusing every time Edward thinks of himself as being 17.
It’s also funny to realize how much my memory of the Twilight story is influenced by scenes from the movie. I was 100% sure that the big confrontation between Bella and Edward, when she admits that she knows he’s a vampire, takes place in the forest. Right? Right?
Well, sorry, that’s wrong. They’re in Edward’s car. Not quite as dramatic a setting.
But let’s switch over to the positive. It IS actually interesting to see events from Edward’s perspective, to get more of a detailed look at why he reacts to Bella the way he does. Funnily enough, the most interesting parts of Midnight Sun for me are the scenes without Bella, when we see what else was going on when we were following Bella in Twilight.
We get a lot more of the Cullens, and they’re always the best part of the story. We learn a lot about the family history, Edward’s relationships with his different siblings, and how they behave amongst themselves when it’s just them, with no fragile little humans in their midst.
The best character, as always, is Alice. There’s just so much more of her here, and she’s a treat. Through Edward and Alice’s interactions, we get a much better view of how her visions of the future and Edward’s mind-reading work together, and honestly? It’s kind of cool.
Also, through Alice’s visions, we find out more about how Edward sees the future. Alice continually shows him possible outcomes as he falls deeper and deeper in love (or obsession) with Bella, and most aren’t pretty at all. No wonder he’s so torn up inside all the frickin’ time. On the other hand, it’s adorable how Alice tries to steer Edward in certain directions, because she’s seen already that she’s going to love Bella, even before she knows her, and doesn’t want to ruin the chance of being her friend. Awwwww.
Emmett is also pretty awesome as Edward’s closest brother and friend, always having his back and all-around pretty chill. Jasper is a bit enigmatic in this version, and Rosalie isn’t particularly likable, even though Edward repeatedly explains why she feels the way she does about Bella.
I really liked a dramatic car chase scene toward the end where the family basically acts as Edward’s GPS, with Alice monitoring the future for road conditions and speed traps, and the other family members acting as rear and side mirrors, watching the road so Edward can view it through their eyes. Kind of ridiculous, but also pretty fun.
I mean, sure, the more problematic aspects of Twilight are still as problematic in Midnight Sun. Edward is such an obsessive stalker — but I guess because he acknowledges it to himself, it’s supposed to be okay? Sorry, but there’s no way to make his behavior (like lurking in Bella’s bedroom while she sleeps) not creepy, even if he justifies it through his compulsion to keep her safe every second of the day.
And the writing? Well, I suppose tastes may vary, but here are a couple of snippets that prompted me to have to close the book for a minute or two and refocus.
It felt like simmering coals, as though a dull version of my thirsting burn had spread throughout my entire body.
I’m not entirely sure what that means, to be honest.
With her wet hair looping in long seaweed tangles around her shoulders, and her face glowing in the moonlight, she looked more than good. The English language needed a word that meant something halfway between a goddess and a naiad.
Oh, Edward. You’re just too much.
And I guess “too much” is about how I feel overall about this book. I liked it, gotta be honest. It was fun in spots. But Edward is SO broody and introspective, and he just never stops. And even at the end, he’s still planning to leave Bella, which really isn’t the impression I had from the end of Twilight. So that’s a good twist, but I’m not convinced that the new and different outlooks really justify the length of this doorstop of a book.
Please don’t ask me if I’d read more books set in the Twilight world, if Stephenie Meyer decides to keep going.
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Bookshelf Fantasies 